Breaking from the trend of the last few posts, I bring you into my present. Fresh off Thanksgiving break my class is already deep into school; this week I had my OSCE (graded encounter with a mock-patient), a quiz, and still a quiz and a 108-question exam yet to go. It never slows down.
On my way to the OSCE I was enjoying a nice day. It's cooling down to winter temperatures here in the south, pleasant breezes and sunny afternoons. I stopped at subway to buy a sandwich with the money the government loaned me, dressed in my nice "clinical clothes" and played Barenaked Ladies on my stereo as I drove down the highway. The album I was listening to still takes me back to the cross-country trip I made when I was 17, and for a few minutes, I got to enjoy the fact that I'm halfway through my last year in the classroom. Ever.
It's kind of surreal, really. You start medical school feeling like college took an eternity, then you blink twice and about a million clinical vignettes later you're on your way to practice an abdominal exam in your final year of classroom work. Unlike the play exams we did in first year, when I listen to the heart and lungs now I actually know what the hell is going on. It still feels like I have barely scratched the surface of medical knowledge (which is true), but I can look back and see how far I've come.
The OSCE itself went fine, of course. Most people do very well on these exams. My mock patients were men I had seen before in our interviewing class, both of them very kind gentlemen who seem to genuinely like working with students. This time next year it won't be a fake patient that I'm examining, though. Next year it's going to be the real deal. How much will I change between then and now? Probably even more than I changed in the last year.
I'm always one more quiz, one more test, one more practical from being one step closer to real medicine. Some of the steps are more painful than others. It's kind of funny; I never imagined that I would look at a kidney and think to myself "Oh god, not the renal system" and look at a uterus thinking "YES, repro!" Everyone has the classes they love and the classes they can barely manage to get themselves to look at, and for me, most of my worst classes were this semester. Our school does a "systems" curriculum in which we cover one system with all the pathology/anatomy/pharmacology every month or so, so you might go for weeks studying something you loathe. It has its pros and cons, but overall I think I like it. At least it gets everything out of the way at once.
Even though I do have my favorite organ classes, I'm most looking forward to psychiatry. Aspiring psychiatrists don't get a whole lot of time to indulge their interests until 4th year since, understandably, most of the focus is on the broader fields of medicine (internal med, peds, surgery, etc.). I just hope that I love psychiatry as much as I think I do, and I hope that once all this is over medical school will seem worth it.
Well, enough indulging in my stream of consciousness post. I need to look at some alarming pictures of the gastrointestinal system (did I mention GI was on the list of classes I could do without?).
Showing posts with label MD. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MD. Show all posts
11/29/11
11/27/11
Obligatory Pre-Med Guide
Since this blog may appeal to aspiring doctors, I would feel remiss continuing without a basic guide to getting into medical school. Much of this advice is hindsight; I didn't necessarily do everything right, but I'd like to give you the information that I gathered on the way.
First off, you need to select a college. I'm a big fan of community college for the first 2 years because it's cheap and the class sizes are small, but I had a very non-conventional college career anyway. No, it's not going to hurt your application if you attend a community college unless (possibly) you're dead-set on the ivy league. It's okay--even smart--to get the best, cheapest education you can. As long as you attend a college that fosters a good learning environment for you, you can do just about anything you want. I personally attended more than 4 different colleges because of my family situation, and it never came up as a question during my interviews at all. I wouldn't recommend more than a couple transfers if you can help it, though. Paperwork gets messy.
Next, you'll need to know what the pre-requisites for medical school are. You will need to take a few basic courses - 1 year physics, 1 year gen chem, 1 year organic chem, 1 year biology, 1 year english and 1 year of math (2 semester of calculus or 1 semester calc/1 semester statistics). Note: these are the requirements as of 2011 and may change with the new MCAT in 2015. As long as you have these courses it doesn't matter if you're an English major or a biochemistry major. Take the courses, do well, and shoot for a GPA at or above 3.5. It's best to try and get as many A's in the prerequisites as possible, but as you may find out, college doesn't always go according to plan. You might get a bad (maybe really bad) grade here and there. I mean it when I say it's not the end of the world, and as with most things in life, all you can do is pick up and move on. Given that life tends to take unexpected turns, I highly recommend getting a degree in a subject that you could see yourself working in even if you don't go to medical school. Sometimes it takes a few tries to get into med school, and some people don't get in at all. You don't want to find yourself graduating with a degree in biology, lamenting the fact that you would really rather work in the field of psychology.
Extracurricular activities ("EC's") are also very important. Med schools like to see that you're a decent, hardworking person with varied interests, as cliched as that may sound. Choose EC's that you enjoy, not EC's that you think will impress the admissions committee. My personal passion is the prevention of child abuse, so I spent a lot of volunteer hours working with a child advocacy center. It is important to have some clinical time on your application, so volunteering at a hospital at least for one summer would be prudent. Take a look at the volunteer tab for hospitals in your area to get some of that coveted clinical experience. Research, while not essential to your resume, is great if you like to do it. I spent a few years as a lab technician working with invertebrates--it wasn't medical research, but it was definitely fun research. Whatever you decide to do, enjoy it! You will have plenty of opportunities to do things you don't want to do in medical school. Trust me.
It is also recommended that you spend some time "shadowing" a physician. Shadowing means that you follow a doctor through their daily routine, getting a feel for what the field is like. You may know a doctor that you want to ask, but then again, you might be a first-generation college student with no insurance (like me!). In that case, you can cold-call some doctor's offices, or you can try what I did. I highly recommend the iLearn Mentor Program. This website has a list of osteopathic physicians (D.O.'s) who are willing to work with students. Not all doctors are interested in accommodating pre-meds, so it's nice to have a list of docs who have already agreed to do it. I found an amazing doctor to shadow who was kind enough to write me a letter of recommendation. And on that note...
Letters of recommendation ("LOR's") - get them. If you happen to meet a professor you really like, do research with someone that knows your abilities, or get to know a physician, don't be shy about asking them for a strong letter of recommendation. It's not an unusual request, and it's good to collect these things as you go along. It's somewhat awkward to call your ecology professor from 4 semesters ago and say, "Remember me? Well yes, I'm applying to med school this year and I need a favor..." You'll want a minimum of 4 LOR's to be safe - 2 from science-related people, 1 from a physician and 1 from a non-science professor. To keep them all together, I used a service called Interfolio. It costs some money to get an account, but they will keep copies of all your letters and send them to schools that need them. It saved both me and my letter writers a lot of time during application season.
If you're following the "traditional" timeline, you'll be applying 1 year before you graduate college. I took the MCAT in May 2009, had all my applications complete by July, interviewed between August and December and graduated college in May 2010. The MCAT is easy for some and a beast for others, and they plan to revise the entire thing in 2015. This is where I'm going to recommend that you do what I did not do - save up for materials well in advance of studying. I didn't have any family support and was working my way through college, so my budget had a margin of error like a margin on notebook paper. I studied from an outdated, used book for 2 weeks and then took the exam, which I barely managed to afford. If you can get your parent's tax information, you might be eligible to take the MCAT for free through the FAP. However, if you don't have your parent's financial information, they are very unwilling to work with you. I've heard from friends that there are some good prep courses through places like Kaplan and Princeton, so I will go ahead and recommend those, expensive as they are. The MCAT is a big (if not the biggest) part of your application, and you want to aim for around a 30 or above in the pre-2015 MCAT scale.
The application process is long and tiresome, so I recommend going into it with a plan. There are 3 application services you need to be aware of: AMCAS (allopathic applications), AACOMAS (osteopathic applications) and TMDSAS (med schools in Texas). For disadvantaged students, it should be noted that AMCAS offers up to 10 free school applications, AACOMAS offers up to 3 and TMDSAS has no financial assistance. If you need assistance, be sure to apply for it as early as possible since funds are limited. I was unable to receive the waiver from AMCAS due to my family situation, but was able to work with AACOMAS to get the 3 free school applications. Applications are expensive no matter how you cut it, and you want to apply to enough schools that you have a decent statistical shot at getting in. Interviews are even more expensive.
More on the interview experience - and maybe even a post about the first year of med school - when I am less tired and have less of a quiz going on in the morning.
First off, you need to select a college. I'm a big fan of community college for the first 2 years because it's cheap and the class sizes are small, but I had a very non-conventional college career anyway. No, it's not going to hurt your application if you attend a community college unless (possibly) you're dead-set on the ivy league. It's okay--even smart--to get the best, cheapest education you can. As long as you attend a college that fosters a good learning environment for you, you can do just about anything you want. I personally attended more than 4 different colleges because of my family situation, and it never came up as a question during my interviews at all. I wouldn't recommend more than a couple transfers if you can help it, though. Paperwork gets messy.
Next, you'll need to know what the pre-requisites for medical school are. You will need to take a few basic courses - 1 year physics, 1 year gen chem, 1 year organic chem, 1 year biology, 1 year english and 1 year of math (2 semester of calculus or 1 semester calc/1 semester statistics). Note: these are the requirements as of 2011 and may change with the new MCAT in 2015. As long as you have these courses it doesn't matter if you're an English major or a biochemistry major. Take the courses, do well, and shoot for a GPA at or above 3.5. It's best to try and get as many A's in the prerequisites as possible, but as you may find out, college doesn't always go according to plan. You might get a bad (maybe really bad) grade here and there. I mean it when I say it's not the end of the world, and as with most things in life, all you can do is pick up and move on. Given that life tends to take unexpected turns, I highly recommend getting a degree in a subject that you could see yourself working in even if you don't go to medical school. Sometimes it takes a few tries to get into med school, and some people don't get in at all. You don't want to find yourself graduating with a degree in biology, lamenting the fact that you would really rather work in the field of psychology.
Extracurricular activities ("EC's") are also very important. Med schools like to see that you're a decent, hardworking person with varied interests, as cliched as that may sound. Choose EC's that you enjoy, not EC's that you think will impress the admissions committee. My personal passion is the prevention of child abuse, so I spent a lot of volunteer hours working with a child advocacy center. It is important to have some clinical time on your application, so volunteering at a hospital at least for one summer would be prudent. Take a look at the volunteer tab for hospitals in your area to get some of that coveted clinical experience. Research, while not essential to your resume, is great if you like to do it. I spent a few years as a lab technician working with invertebrates--it wasn't medical research, but it was definitely fun research. Whatever you decide to do, enjoy it! You will have plenty of opportunities to do things you don't want to do in medical school. Trust me.
It is also recommended that you spend some time "shadowing" a physician. Shadowing means that you follow a doctor through their daily routine, getting a feel for what the field is like. You may know a doctor that you want to ask, but then again, you might be a first-generation college student with no insurance (like me!). In that case, you can cold-call some doctor's offices, or you can try what I did. I highly recommend the iLearn Mentor Program. This website has a list of osteopathic physicians (D.O.'s) who are willing to work with students. Not all doctors are interested in accommodating pre-meds, so it's nice to have a list of docs who have already agreed to do it. I found an amazing doctor to shadow who was kind enough to write me a letter of recommendation. And on that note...
Letters of recommendation ("LOR's") - get them. If you happen to meet a professor you really like, do research with someone that knows your abilities, or get to know a physician, don't be shy about asking them for a strong letter of recommendation. It's not an unusual request, and it's good to collect these things as you go along. It's somewhat awkward to call your ecology professor from 4 semesters ago and say, "Remember me? Well yes, I'm applying to med school this year and I need a favor..." You'll want a minimum of 4 LOR's to be safe - 2 from science-related people, 1 from a physician and 1 from a non-science professor. To keep them all together, I used a service called Interfolio. It costs some money to get an account, but they will keep copies of all your letters and send them to schools that need them. It saved both me and my letter writers a lot of time during application season.
If you're following the "traditional" timeline, you'll be applying 1 year before you graduate college. I took the MCAT in May 2009, had all my applications complete by July, interviewed between August and December and graduated college in May 2010. The MCAT is easy for some and a beast for others, and they plan to revise the entire thing in 2015. This is where I'm going to recommend that you do what I did not do - save up for materials well in advance of studying. I didn't have any family support and was working my way through college, so my budget had a margin of error like a margin on notebook paper. I studied from an outdated, used book for 2 weeks and then took the exam, which I barely managed to afford. If you can get your parent's tax information, you might be eligible to take the MCAT for free through the FAP. However, if you don't have your parent's financial information, they are very unwilling to work with you. I've heard from friends that there are some good prep courses through places like Kaplan and Princeton, so I will go ahead and recommend those, expensive as they are. The MCAT is a big (if not the biggest) part of your application, and you want to aim for around a 30 or above in the pre-2015 MCAT scale.
The application process is long and tiresome, so I recommend going into it with a plan. There are 3 application services you need to be aware of: AMCAS (allopathic applications), AACOMAS (osteopathic applications) and TMDSAS (med schools in Texas). For disadvantaged students, it should be noted that AMCAS offers up to 10 free school applications, AACOMAS offers up to 3 and TMDSAS has no financial assistance. If you need assistance, be sure to apply for it as early as possible since funds are limited. I was unable to receive the waiver from AMCAS due to my family situation, but was able to work with AACOMAS to get the 3 free school applications. Applications are expensive no matter how you cut it, and you want to apply to enough schools that you have a decent statistical shot at getting in. Interviews are even more expensive.
More on the interview experience - and maybe even a post about the first year of med school - when I am less tired and have less of a quiz going on in the morning.
A little for me, a little for you
I'm starting this blog for two primary reasons:
1. I really, really need some kind of outlet aside from my halting attempts at creative writing
2. If I'm going to use personal writing as an outlet, someone else may as well benefit
Back when I was thinking about med school I read a lot of things - I read stuff on the Student Doctor Network Forums, Lone Coyote's Blog, all kinds of books and anything else I could get my hands on. I'm big on reading and researching, I guess. In all the time I spent searching, I didn't find anything that would prepare me for what would happen when I walked through the doors of my new lecture hall. It's not just a lot of information, it's insanity.
Maybe I've lost my mind, but I don't think I would trade it for anything else.
Some of my classmates, or surely some of my med school brothers and sisters across the world, might not say the same thing at this point. My days are long and I seem to have an endless pile of ridiculous facts to memorize. I never get enough exercise, my house is usually a mess, and Friday night is henceforth known as "Date Night," one night of the week that I absolutely reserve to be with my husband. Nights like tonight I don't want to let go of the weekend as I sit up too late typing on my computer, wishing the clock would stop so I could squeeze in another hour or two of relaxation time.
I've thought about quitting plenty of times, along with most of my friends. It's hard not to at least think of it in a casual kind of way (also very hard not to spend a couple hours looking up all the grad schools you could have attended in another life). However, a year and a half into the experience with 2.5 years to go, I'm starting to see a future for myself which might not be so bad.
Thus I do what I can to stay sane, sometimes neglecting other chores just so I can have a bit of happiness in my life. I write, play Skyrim (my second home), take long walks with my husband, have silly barbeques with my friends from med school now bonded to me through shared traumatic experience. I'm writing this blog not just to educate others, but also to remind myself of why I do all of this in the first place. Maybe somewhere out there you're reading this, just as curious about me as I am about you. Perhaps that's just vanity; I don't know. I'll keep writing to you anyway, dear reader.
1. I really, really need some kind of outlet aside from my halting attempts at creative writing
2. If I'm going to use personal writing as an outlet, someone else may as well benefit
Back when I was thinking about med school I read a lot of things - I read stuff on the Student Doctor Network Forums, Lone Coyote's Blog, all kinds of books and anything else I could get my hands on. I'm big on reading and researching, I guess. In all the time I spent searching, I didn't find anything that would prepare me for what would happen when I walked through the doors of my new lecture hall. It's not just a lot of information, it's insanity.
Maybe I've lost my mind, but I don't think I would trade it for anything else.
Some of my classmates, or surely some of my med school brothers and sisters across the world, might not say the same thing at this point. My days are long and I seem to have an endless pile of ridiculous facts to memorize. I never get enough exercise, my house is usually a mess, and Friday night is henceforth known as "Date Night," one night of the week that I absolutely reserve to be with my husband. Nights like tonight I don't want to let go of the weekend as I sit up too late typing on my computer, wishing the clock would stop so I could squeeze in another hour or two of relaxation time.
I've thought about quitting plenty of times, along with most of my friends. It's hard not to at least think of it in a casual kind of way (also very hard not to spend a couple hours looking up all the grad schools you could have attended in another life). However, a year and a half into the experience with 2.5 years to go, I'm starting to see a future for myself which might not be so bad.
Thus I do what I can to stay sane, sometimes neglecting other chores just so I can have a bit of happiness in my life. I write, play Skyrim (my second home), take long walks with my husband, have silly barbeques with my friends from med school now bonded to me through shared traumatic experience. I'm writing this blog not just to educate others, but also to remind myself of why I do all of this in the first place. Maybe somewhere out there you're reading this, just as curious about me as I am about you. Perhaps that's just vanity; I don't know. I'll keep writing to you anyway, dear reader.
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